VERDUN DE LA CRENNE, (JEAN-RENÉ-ANTOINE de).

Voyage fait par Ordre du Roi en 1771 et 1772, en diverses Parties de l’Europe, de l’Afrique et de l’Amérique ; Pour vérifier l’Utilité de plusieurs Méthodes & Instruments, servant à déterminer la Latitude & la Longitude, tant du Vaisseau que des Côtes, Isles & Écueils qu’on reconnoît: suivi de Recherches pour rectifier les Cartes hydrographiques. 2 Vols.

Paris, L'Imprimerie Royale, 1778.

4to. 2 contemp. Full mottled calf. Raised bands. Richly gilt spines. Titlelabels with gilt lettering. Volume one rebacked, preserving nearly all of original spines and endpapers renewed. Neath repairs to edges. Stamp on title-pages. (4),389,XIX,(3);(6),500,XXX,(2) pp., 28 mostly folded engraved plates and 3 large folded engraved maps. The maps strenghtened in foldings on verso and slightly brownspotted. Wide-margined. A few scattered brownspots.

First edition. In the years 1771-1772 the French government sent a scientific expedition led by Verdun de la Crenne to the North Atlantic. Their commission was to explore the ocean, coasts, and islands and correct errors on existing charts and test various ways of measuring latitude and longitude. One of the most significant corrections they made was in the location of Iceland; based on their measurements they moved the country three and a half degrees eastwards. It comprises the large sea chart of the northern Atlantic (58 x 88 cm.), which is centered roughly on Iceland. It covers from Labrador, Newfoundland, and Baffin Island (Ile James) to Norway, and includes Greenland, Great Britain, Denmark, and part of the coast France, inland to Paris.
Sabin, 98960.

Order-nr.: 56629